MM's Cheap Eats: Spanish omelette

BUENISIMO: Mel's tortilla

By Melanie Hughes

MM's resident foodie is back with another of her low-budget dishes. This week she tackles an old Spanish favourite - the tortilla.

Tortilla

3 eggs

2 potatoes, peeled and thinly sliced

Half an onion

Olive Oil

Parsley

Salt and pepper

This classic Spanish omelette is perfect for dinner or cold for lunch the next day. Or, as I found out in Madrid, heated up and had in a crusty baguette as a morning-after hangover cure. Stodge-tastic!

This recipe is for a small frying pan, if using a bigger or medium size one then just increased the amount of ingredients as appropriate.

Most people think tortilla is more difficult than it actually is – it’s just a glorified omelette! However, the most important thing is to have a good-quality frying pan otherwise it will burn too quickly.

Firstly boil the thinly sliced potatoes for 2-3 minutes just to soften them slightly but be careful not to overdo it because they’ll get too mushy. Drain them and set aside for a second.

Chop the parsley and the onion thinly.

Heat some oil or butter in a pan on a medium heat and fry off the onions very slightly just to soften them. Crack the eggs into a bowl them then add the potatoes, parsley and seasoning to the egg mixture. Give it a quick stir and pour it into the pan.

Cook slowly until the sides begin to come together. It should take about 5-10 minutes.

While waiting preheat the grill, you can take your chances at trying to flip the tortilla and cooking it that way but I prefer to grill the top. However, if you are going to put the pan under the grill, make sure it doesn’t have a plastic handle!

A friend of mine once did that. Yes, a friend, it definitely wasn’t me.

Anyway, once you think the tortilla is almost cooked through on the hob, pop it under the grill for under the top is cooked.

Once cooked simply place the pan down, put a plate on top of it facing downwards and flip the two over together holding the plate tightly so the whole thing doesn’t fall everywhere (I haven’t done that before – I promise).

And there you go. Serve as part of a tapas medley or on it’s own with some salad or bread.